Roulette
by Grey Shorts
Summary: Sasuke finds himself on yet another job in a new city. He didn't expect it to be straight forward, but neither did he expect the girl with pink hair and green eyes.
1. Chapter 1: The Magellan

Sasuke sighed as he dropped his suitcase on the floor of the fancy hotel room. The concierge had offered to have the porter bring up his bags, but Sasuke had always found it strange to have someone carry his bags for him when he could manage perfectly fine on his own.

He turned to survey the room around him. He'd been on plenty of business trips for the firm and stayed in countless hotels, but this had to be the nicest. Surprising, he thought, considering the city was a small one.

Leaf City.

He hadn't heard much about it. As far as he knew, it was a beautiful little city on the coast and was a popular spot for tourists looking for a short quick getaway. Hotels and casinos lined the main streets of Leaf City, and he was staying at the most opulent of them all – The Magellan.

He noticed a card on the minibar:

_Mr. Uchiha, _

_As a show of appreciation for your time and efforts,_

_please feel free to make full use of all hotel facilities on the house. _

_We hope you enjoy your stay and do not hesitate to call should you require anything at all._

_Regards, __Momochi Zabuza._

It was a message from the hotel owner himself. Sasuke walked over to the window and was stunned by the ocean views. These people really knew how to make their auditor feel at home, he smirked. Not that it was anything new. His reports could make a break a business, and every hotel he had ever audited treated him like royalty. His every need was attended to and he spent his time travelling from city to city staying in the most luxurious hotels, all on company money. He was one of the best hotel auditors in the business, at one of the biggest firms in the country.

And he was suddenly reminded of how much he hated his job.

* * *

Sunday night.

Sasuke didn't have to properly start his audit of The Magellan until the next day, but it wouldn't hurt to take a quick look around to see what he was working with. After grabbing an amazing (and free) dinner at one of the hotel's smaller restaurants, he made his way to the casino.

It was incredible, and extremely packed.

Sasuke wasn't allowed to gamble due to the nature of his work, but he wasn't a gambler anyway. Still, he always found it interesting to watch the behaviour of other casino patrons, especially at poker tables.

"Good evening, Mr. Uchiha," a female voice called from behind him.

He turned around to face an attractive blonde in her early twenties. "My name is Ino Yamanaka," she introduced herself. "Mr. Zabuza has requested that I be your personal assistant throughout your stay here to ensure that any and all of your needs are satisfied," she added huskily.

"Call me Sasuke," he said as he shook her outstretched hand. "Thank you for your hospitality, but I'm all set for tonight."

The woman smiled at him, taking the hint, but handed him a card with a phone number. "This is my personal line. Please call if you require any assistance at all, work-related or otherwise," she said, before bowing slightly and walking away.

Sasuke couldn't help but notice her figure, perfectly displayed in her formal but slightly-too-tight pencil skirt.

_She wore that on purpose_, he thought.

Then he spotted what he had been looking for. The Paragon Room. That was where all the high-stakes poker games were played, and that would be where all the action was. It would probably also be the biggest source of his problems on this job.

_I can't believe I'm still thinking about work_, he reflected glumly.

He made his way up the short flight of six steps to the arched doorway of the room. The double doors were half open, and he took a step inside, only to be met by green eyes and a shock of pink hair.

"Can I help you?"

Sasuke stepped back outside, and the girl followed, shutting the doors behind her. She was dressed in the hotel uniform of a hostess; a fitted buttoned shirt tucked into a tight floor length skirt with a slit on one side that ran up to just above mid-thigh. What was most distracting, though, was the pair of bright green eyes that looked up at him from behind pale pink bangs.

"Can I help you," she repeated when he didn't answer, more curtly this time.

"Yes," Sasuke replied, putting on an air of confidence in the hope that she'd be persuaded into letting him in. "I'd like to get into The Paragon Room."

"I'm sorry, sir, but the game has already started and we can't let anyone in until it's over," the girl smiled apologetically.

"I'm sure no one will notice me," Sasuke said smoothly. "My name is Sasuke Uchiha, and I'm here to audit this casino. I'd just like to observe tonight."

The girl frowned a little but said politely, "Yes, welcome, sir. I hope you're stay here has been enjoyable so far. Unfortunately, I cannot allow anyone into the room that has not been authorised prior to the beginning of the game. If you would like, I could speak to management about having you sit in another night." She took his arm lightly and began walking him down the steps.

Sasuke was becoming impatient. He preferred to remain anonymous while on the job, and having his name and role "on the list" did not lend to natural behaviour from anyone at any high stakes poker game. The girl must have noticed his displeasure as she started speaking again.

"I'm sure you understand the nature of the game being played behind these doors, and how your presence at this point would cause the gentleman inside to-"

She was cut off by a loud yell from inside the room, followed by a crash. Sasuke caught the flicker of alarm in her eyes as she turned back to see the doors to The Paragon Room flung open and a waitress in tears rushing out.

"Sakura," the waitress cried hysterically. "Sakura, come quick. Mr. Hyuuga, he's been... he's been-"

Sasuke craned his neck to see what was going on inside the room as the hostess dashed back up the steps. It was chaos. There were men yelling angrily at each other, and one rather portly gentleman bleeding on the floor. He could see security rushing over from across the casino floor.

"Where's the doctor?" he heard one of the angry men call out.

"That would be me," the green-eyed hostess answered as she entered the room and the last thing he saw before the doors were shut was the young girl feeling the injured man for a pulse.

Sasuke walked back to his room slowly after that, thinking about what had just happened. High-stakes poker was clearly serious business at The Magellan. And why was the hostess also a doctor? Was that intentional? Did the casino really require a doctor on hand at all times?

_I need to really look into this_, he reflected as he drifted off to sleep that night.

_But not until tomorrow, _he thought. 

_Sakura._

That was her name.


	2. Chapter 2: People Watching

Sakura fell into bed in the early hours of the morning. It had been a long night. The old man had been stabbed in his gut by one of his so-called friends with a pen. A bloody _pen_.

She had done what she could before the ambulance arrived. The man would be in pain for a couple of weeks, but that was the extent of it. She was glad she had the day off.

Well, fourteen hours off. Enough time for a shower, some sleep and a meal at the hotel. Not enough time for her to drive home and be a normal human being before having to come back to work again. She sighed at the disadvantage of living a three hour drive out of town. She barely had enough time to make it home once a fortnight.

She rolled over towards the window and saw the cracks of dawn peeping through. She was used to this. In the one year she had practised as a surgeon, she had worked every odd hour known to man. Now, as a dealer, or waitress, or whatever the hell Zabuza demanded she be on the day, not much was different. It was with the absurdity of these thoughts that she finally drifted off to sleep.

* * *

"You're up early this afternoon."

Sakura smiled at the blonde-haired, blue-eyed boy approaching her. "You know it just means I'll sleep better tomorrow morning, Naruto," she replied, smiling as he fell into step beside her. "When does your shift start?" she asked him.

"Four. Oh, how I love our 12-hour Mondays," Naruto said sarcastically.

"Perfect! We have a couple of hours for food before helping all our esteemed hotel guests get thoroughly drunk and loose with their money," Sakura laughed. The pair went to sit at the cafe in the hotel lobby. It was the best place in the hotel for people-watching, and this was a favourite past time of theirs. They would watch hotel patrons walking past and play guessing games about them.

"Craps player for sure, that one," Naruto indicated a man in a cowboy hat. "What the name of that outlaw again? The one you name when you roll a nine," Naruto grinned.

"Jesse James. Don't talk with your mouth full," Sakura replied. "And you think any man in a cowboy hat is a craps player. What about her?" she asked, looking at an attractive young woman with bright red lipstick.

Naruto wolf-whistled quietly, earning a frown from Sakura. "Roulette, I bet," he said. "She doesn't need to know what she's doing, and she gets to charm the pants off any man in her vicinity with that smile," he said, openly staring at the woman.

Sakura smiled. "You're probably right on that one," she said.

"Oh, I forgot. Roulette is _your_ game," Naruto said, turning away from the woman to look back at Sakura. "Although I don't know if you'd be charming anyone with _that_ face," he added cheekily.

"Oh be quiet," Sakura said with mock annoyance. "Besides, you know why I won't play any other game. What about them?" she asked quickly, pointing out a couple in their mid-forties.

Naruto nodded, letting the comment pass. Sakura saw his face fall when he noticed the couple she had pointed out. "What's wrong?" she asked.

He paused for a moment, before saying quietly, "They remind me of my parents." He looked back at her and smiled sheepishly.

Sakura didn't say anything, but leaned over and gave his arm a gentle squeeze. Naruto's parents had died in an accident a few years ago, and while the boy made light of everything around him, Sakura knew that he did feel lonely. He was a couple of years younger than she was, but since she had started work at the hotel, he had taken on an unspoken role as her protector. He once said, in a rare moment of solemnity, that she was the only family he had left, and Sakura treated him like a brother.

"What about him?" Naruto said suddenly, perking up again. Sakura smiled, knowing his moment of sadness had passed, and turned to look at the person he had singled out. She frowned upon seeing that it was the auditor who had tried to weasel his way into The Paragon Room the night before.

"You look like you've met him, and he left a bad taste in your mouth," Naruto grinned. "Who is he? Ex-boyfriend? Long-lost enemy? Did he steal your school lunches back in the day? Tell meeeeeeeee."

"Stop whining, you big baby," Sakura chided. "He's our new auditor."

"I didn't know the old one left," Naruto said, suddenly serious.

"But you do know that Zabuza never liked the...," she paused, looking for a word. "...Accuracy, of his reports," she finally said.

Naruto grimaced. He was a bartender for the casino, but he knew that the casino games were not always as fair to the patrons as they could have been. He also knew the type of man Zabuza was, and what Zabuza did not like, he did not keep around. "Let's not think about poor ol' Shino, aye?" he said lightly. "This new guy looks sort of like a pushover to me," he added. "Maybe he'll last a little longer."

"He tried to barge his way into the high stakes game last night," Sakura told him. "Flashed his name and title like I was supposed to just melt under his qualifications and usher him right in."

"Huh," Naruto smirked. "I bet you loved that. Maybe he isn't as smart as he looks, then," he commented.

They watched as the man walked across the lobby to the concierge, only to be intercepted by Ino Yamanaka, Zabuza's personal assistant.

"Oh look, Zabuza has Ino on his tail," Naruto laughed. He and Ino did not get along. "Maybe she'll keep him distracted enough to not do his job. I mean, he must – whoa! He just sidestepped her and walked away! Look at her face. She's pissed off!" Naruto began laughing loudly.

Ino must have heard him because she spotted them and walked over. "Hello, Sakura," she smiled sweetly, merely nodding at Naruto to acknowledge him. "Just the person I was looking for."

"You sure?" Naruto interrupted. "Looks like the person you were looking for just snubbed you in favour of another man," he continued, watching as the auditor conversed with the concierge.

Ino scowled, but continued talking to Sakura. "Mr. Zabuza has asked me to instruct you on how you are to respond to requests from Mr. Uchiha, our new auditor. You are to comply with any and all of his wishes and questions, without compromising your position, or our establishment. I trust you understand what I mean."

Sakura nodded, and Ino smiled. "You're my friend, Sakura. I would hate to see anything bad happen to you," she said, not quite sincerely enough, before walking away.

Naruto scowled. "She is not your friend, Sakura, and that is a very poorly veiled threat." When Sakura, didn't respond, Naruto continued quietly. "What if he finds out about you?"

Sakura stood up. "He won't," she said firmly. "Come on, we should get changed and onto the floor."

"Yes, that's right!" Naruto chirped. "We have a new auditor to keep alive!" he said tastelessly, and Sakura shook her head disapprovingly at him as they left the lobby of the hotel.


End file.
